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PANAJI: Tragedy struck Goa’s popular after-hours party scene just before midnight on Saturday, killing 25 people – five of them tourists – and injuring six inside a nightclub in Arpora that turned into a fireball within seconds of electric firecrackers hitting the wooden ceiling of the first floor as a belly-dancer performed.The victims in the blaze at Birch by Romeo Lane, 16km from Panaji, included four of a family from UP’s Ghaziabad. Of the injured, five are being treated at Goa Medical College and Hospital. Police said 150 guests were at the club for the weekend event.DGP Alok Kumar said four club staffers – chief general manager Rajiv Modak, gate manager Priyanshu Thakur, bar manager Rajveer Singhania, and general manager Vivek Singh – were arrested. Goa Police registered an FIR against the club’s Delhi-based owners, Saurabh Luthra and Gaurav Luthra, charging them with culpable homicide not amounting to murder. A police team is in Delhi with a warrant to arrest the duo.
CM Pramod Sawant said his government instituted a magisterial inquiry to find out the lapses that resulted in the tragedy and submit a report within a week.The BJP govt also suspended three officials – ex-director of panchayats Siddhi Halarnkar, ex-state pollution control board member secretary Shamila Monteiro, and former Arpora-Nagoa panchayat secretary Reghuvir Bagkar – for allegedly allowing the nightclub to function without adhering to safety norms.The blaze occurred around 11.45 pm, with a portion of the ceiling catching fire. As flames coursed through the roof overhead, the guests and performers bolted. While most of them were able to step out of the club, those trapped inside reached the basement after the exit caught fire.23 died in basement ‘due to suffocation’, 2 bodies found on stairsCM Pramod Sawant said the chief secretary and DGP Alok Kumar would initiate disciplinary action against the suspended officials. The CM dismissed initial suspicion of a cylinder blast, saying a preliminary investigation by police and fire services department suggested electric firecrackers triggered the blaze. “The fire spread quickly because of the wooden ceiling,” he said.Of the victims, 23 died in the basement of suspected suffocation. Police found the bodies in a pile. Two charred bodies were on the staircase. The basement does not have ventilation.
Sawant said except for the five tourists who died, the deceased were employees of the club – from Assam, Bengal, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, UP and Nepal. Postmortem was conducted on 17 bodies by evening; five were handed over to families. State government sealed Romeo Lane at Vagator, a nightclub belonging to the same owners, after an inquiry revealed inadequate fire-safety measures.PM Narendra Modi announced Rs 2 lakh in ex gratia to the next of kin of each of the deceased, and Rs 50,000 each to the injured.CM Sawant separately declared Rs 5 lakh in compensation for each death and Rs 50,000 to the injured.
